So, you’ve written your book. Now, how do you get people to buy it?
I have been fortunate enough to associate our company with a true expert in the field of indie book publishing — Todd Rutherford, VP at Yorkshire Publishing. Some of you may know him on Twitter as @publishingguru. Todd definitely is our “go to” guy when it comes to taking a work from just being available as either an eBook or POD and getting the world to not only notice it, but more importantly, to buy it! He is the marketing guru!
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Todd and asked him the questions that I believe to be on the minds of new authors everywhere.
1. What is the first thing a self-published/indie author should do to begin marketing his/her book?
Set up a WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-in account and start building your platform.
2. Should the marketing start before the book is published?
The majority of your marketing should be done before the release of the book.
3. Once an author has sold to friends, family and contacts within their circle, sales seem to slow down dramatically. How can they ”break out” and get exposure beyond their circle? They seem to be stuck.
Publicity is king. Work on getting the story about you and your book covered by broadcast, print, and online media outlets. Awareness creates demand for books.
4. How important is it to get into bookstores?
It depends on your goals. I believe everyone should set their book up for availability through Ingram so the book can be ordered by stores. If you want to succeed at getting your book in stores on a national scale, you must launch a national publicity campaign. Starting by getting your book carried in bookstores in your local area is a good idea. I have clients who have sold more than 400,000 books without being in a bookstore.
5. What types of media do you recommend and how can it be utilized by the DIY author?
Coverage by any kind of media is good, but radio is my favorite. There are more than 1000 talk radio shows nationally with 100,000 listeners or more. The airwaves are alive with millions of book buyers.
5. Is it realistic to market a self-published book on a very low or no budget?
If you are broke, start with social media. It only takes time. Money comes in when you need to send a copy of the book to a contact that can provide you with media coverage or buy a large quantity.
6. What is the minimum budget that you would suggest?
I would recommend planning to spend a minimum of $1,000 for a local test market. This should cover the expenses to get about 50 key contacts exposed to the existence of your book.
7. Is there value in having postcards, bookmarks, etc. printed?
It depends on what they are being used for. I recently did a post card mailing to 4000 bookstores for a client. I would only recommend postcards for something like this. Having some bookmarks printed up to give to everyone you come within 3 feet of to promote your book isn’t a bad idea either.
8. Is it important to give books away?
It is the most important thing to do, as long as they are being given to influential people or wholesale book buyers. Most major publishers give away 3000 to 5000 books when they release a new title.
9. Do you have a recommended pricing strategy for Books (including eBooks)?
Retail pricing varies based on content and popularity, but I typically look at what the bestsellers in a genre are selling for and price a book accordingly.
10. How important are the social networking sites? It’s about impossible to keep up with it all. Which social networking environment do you think has the most affect on sales and marketing?
I believe social media is the most profound method for connecting with a target audience that may lead to book sales. Wordpress for your blog, and Twitter and Facebook to promote it are the most effective.
11. What is the best advice you can give a DIY author trying to market their book?
Don’t give up. It takes time to create a national platform. Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield did more than 600 radio interviews their first year. You may not be able to get that done in a year, but you can do something each week to promote your book. If your book is well written, edited, designed, and you stay committed to marketing long-term, it will eventually succeed.
It was a pleasure to meet with Todd. I hope that all of my aspiring author friends have gained some insight from Todd’s insightful words. You can find out more on Todd’s blog at http://publishingguru.blogspot.com
